Belt buckles are well known. Typical belt buckles include a strap and a belt buckle, the belt strap extending through the belt buckle to engage the strap with the belt buckle. Such engagement holds the belt in place around the waist of a person and can be used to support the weight of a person's pants.
Typical belt buckle designs involve a closed square, rectangular or oval metal loop wherein the proximal end is attached to one side of the closed loop or around an intermediate member of that closed loop buckle that has a rod or pin that fits through a hole in the strap to engage the belt buckle to the strap. Typical straps have multiple holes so that the engagement of the belt buckle to the strap can be adjusted to fit various waist sizes. Typical belt buckle designs have more than one piece. Typical belt buckle designs have two or more moving parts.
Belt designs known in the art include the “Hoof Pick Belt” and the “Pelican Hook Belt” made by Narragansett Leather Co., which have a hook action belt buckle and are open framed in appearance. Neither design has the option of feeding the strap from below and neither buckle is constructed from a single member. Instead, these designs are constructed of a closed loop that is attached to the proximal end of the strap.
Other designs, such as the “Trace Carrier Belt” by Leather Man Ltd. is an example of a single member buckle with no moving parts but is a closed loop construction that does not allow access from below.
Other belt buckle designs include the typical square or oval metal plate buckle of the ilk seen worn by adherents of American Western style. These buckles often display a scene or a steer's head. Such buckles share a hook for engaging the belt hole that protrudes from the backside of the buckle and is bent back towards the body of the buckle to enhance positive engagement. In these buckles the structural body lies above the strap being hooked and holds the strap down.
However, prior art belt buckle designs are of closed loop construction and do not allow for the strap to enter the belt buckle from below. As hereinafter defined, the “front” of the belt buckle is being away from the body of the wearer. “Below” is hereinafter defined as being within the vertical plane relative to the front of the wearer.
It is desirable to provide a belt buckle design that allows the strap to enter the belt buckle from below and has the belt buckle made from a single piece or is of a one-piece design. Such a design is an elegant solution that is easy to manufacture as the belt buckle, in its simplest form, is constructed from a single length member.